The United States Postal Service made added Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official, to the list of people to grace a postage stamp. It was a proud day for supporters and the equality movement, but not everyone was happy about it.

The American Family Association put out a press release this week with the title, “A drag queen was behind USPS Harvey Milk stamp.” After moving past the fact that a “self-described drag queen (a biological man with implanted breasts) and former transsexual prostitute” had lobbied to get Milk on the postage, the group let its views on San Francisco Board of Supervisors member, who was assassinated along with the city’s mayor in 1978, be known:

Honoring predator Harvey Milk on a U.S. postage stamp is disturbing to say the least. Harvey Milk was a very disreputable man and used his charm and power to prey on young boys with emotional problems and drug addiction. He is the last person we should be featuring on a stamp.

The AFA then submitted these instructions to those who felt the same:

What you can do…

1. Refuse to accept the Harvey Milk stamp if offered by your local post office. Instead, ask for a stamp of the United States flag.

2. Refuse to accept mail at your home or business if it is postmarked with the Harvey Milk stamp. Simply write ‘Return to Sender” on the envelope and tell your postman you won’t accept it.

You didn’t hear this kind of anger when Elvis got his stamp. So I guess being an overweight drug addict that died on a toilet is cool, but another who was murdered in public office isn’t. Strange world we live in.

This would be a lot better if you couldn’t pay your bills online, but it’s still got a bit of a chuckle attached to it. Someone should just sign them up for a porno mag subscription (that still exists, right?) and see if they’ll accept that without the stamp on it.

We don’t publish images of Muhammed because they find it offensive. We have no problem with putting Harvey Milk on a stamp even though it offends others. My point isn’t we shouldn’t put Harvey Milk on a stamp. It’s we should have no problem showing Muhammed. So no we shouldn’t be more backwards. We shouldn’t cater to them any more than we cater to Christian extremists and their idiot concerns.

@Staubachlvr Except Muhammad is depicted on the Supreme Court Building, the mecca of our Judicial Branch in the capitol of our nation. The Supreme Court has rejected petitions to have it removed or altered on the grounds that it is a respectful representation of a man responsible for the development of our world. This is exactly how the government is treating Harvey Milk’s image on these stamps.

@Staubachlvr Catering isn’t the same thing as avoiding. Throw that rock anywhere in your back yard except for at that beehive. Let’s not mess with it and if we have to, let’s call in a pro. If you do want to throw that rock, go ahead, it’s your right, but prepare yourself! But all that literally has nothing to do with a Milk stamp.

@Magseven But it is catering. We’re offending them when we do it so we avoid it. Either we’re going to be sensitive to all religions and not offend any of them (no) or we don’t worry about offending any of them. Like how putting Harvey Milk on a stamp offends Christians and putting Muhammed on the Supreme Court offends Muslims. There was quite a resistance when we did that and plenty wanted to scrap putting him up altogether. But we shouldn’t worry about that, and we didn’t and did it anyway. But plenty of groups still won’t show Muhammed out of that “avoidance”. It’s still catering. South Park did a whole episode about it. Everyone is fine with them doing episodes depicting Jesus and Moses doing anything and everything but they still couldn’t show Muhammed. It’s ridiculous. And no different than Christians yelling they don’t want gays on stamps. We shouldn’t listen to any of them

Go tell them he was mythical. You’re absolutely right in your point, no matter what peoples personal feelings are, they should have little bearing in these matters, whether it be MLK, Muhammed or Harvey Milk.

Did you get to that part where Milk’s hardcore political supporters were a death cult that he knew was made up of lunatics? Or that he wrote letters to President Carter trying to intervemne in a custody case to stop the administration from getting childen out of Guyana.

There’s a reason why Harvey Milk recorded his “final words” on November 18, 1978 because he feared assassination. That was the day of the Jonestown Massacre. Harvey Milk (and also Willie Brown and others who were Jim Jones sycophants) were pretty much horrible people who should earn no respect.

“Rev. Jones is widely known in the minority communities here and elsewhere as a man of the highest character, who has undertaken constructive remedies for social problems which have been amazing in their scope and effectiveness, Not only is the life of a child at stake, who currently has loving and protective parents in the Rev. and Mrs. Jones, but our official relations with Guyana could stand to be jeopardized, to the potentially great embarrassment of our State Department.” – from H. Milk letter to Pres. Jimmy Carter

Yeah and the way he upended the money-changers’ tables at the temple because he felt usury–i.e. modern banking–was a sin? SOCIALISM.

Whatever. It doesn’t matter, does it? As long as you believe in Cheebus & ask his forgiveness you can go out and do whatever you want–except believe in other religions. THEN YER GOWIN’ TA HEEELLLLLL. (Thumps bible)

Actually, turning your back on those you love is exactly what Jesus demanded of his followers. He asked for people to abandon their families and lives in order to follow him. The Bible’s on helluva drug,

Pre-paid mail or not, if I were a billing company, I would use the Milk stamp on every bill coming out of my office until these jackasses were up to their ears in collection notices – also sent with the Milk stamps.